Battle Fairy Yukikaze: Final Thoughts
It’s a loose adaptation of a pair of well-regarded sci-fi novels in Japan. The plot setup is that some time in the future, a hyperspace rift opens up in the skies above Antarctica, heralding an attack by an enigmatic and hostile alien force known only as the JAM. Mankind rallies and fights back, forcing the JAM back through the rift. On the other side is an alien planet called Fairy - though life returns mostly to normal on Earth, the battle against the JAM continues to rage in the skies above Fairy, between the UN-led Fairy Air Force and the forces of the JAM. Amidst this conflict, 2nd Lieutenant Rei Fukai is part of the SAF, which is a special recon branch of the FAF. A loner, he has only two real friends, the first being his commanding officer Jack Bukhar, and the second and less likely being his Super-Sylph fighter jet and its advanced onboard AI, nicknamed Yukikaze. The two form a close-knit man-machine symbiosis that will be tested to its limits as the strategies of the JAM become more insidious in their methods and as mankind struggles to keep pace.
The series sells itself primarily on the spectacle of its large-scale aerial battles - this is an early-to-mid 2000s series that make heavy use of 3D graphics, which is normally a recipe for disaster but works astonishingly well here, mostly due to stellar direction. Apparently it was produced and directed with the assistance of the air branch of Japan’s SDF, and it shows as something that while spectacular and exciting, still manages to feel authentic, whether it’s the lingo that gets slung between pilots or the green-lined HUD displays that get used in first person shots. Equally impressive are the aircraft designs, which are a fantastic mix of realistic and futuristic - you can see design elements that are very reminiscent of real modern aircraft, but with an added sense of sci-fi flair. They reminded me a lot of the original aircraft in Ace Combat 3 and Ace Combat X in that regard. At any rate, the end result is pretty much always something gorgeous to look at. The Super Sylph that Rei and Yukikaze start with, and the Mave that they upgrade into after the first episode are both fitting stars of the show.
Of course, the action isn’t worth as much if it’s not in service of a good story, and Yukikaze delivers on that front as well - at least in my opinion. I can see there being plenty of room to disagree. It becomes evident fairly quickly that it’s more than just a dumb shootout between fighter jocks and UFOs, and that the JAM’s agenda and methods are much more sophisticated than they first appear. This is a good thing because it makes for a more interesting story, but it’s not always presented in a way that’s clear, and things can easily get confusing. Things do come together really nicely in the final episode, but there are going to be times when you might have to pause for a minute or even rewind to fully wrap your head around what’s going on, which could make this a frustrating watch if it’s not really got his hooks in you. Also not really helping is that Rei’s not a particularly likable protagonist. He’s definitely a guy portrayed in the same mould as Chirico Cuvie, where he’s very taciturn, even to the point of being rude to other people. However, he really doesn’t have the same icy charisma or interesting backstory that can make a character like Chirico work - while he’s not unbearable or anything he’s still not great. He only really cares for flying and only really gets on with his flight computer - although on the flip side, what is kind of impressive is that said computer, Yukikaze, despite only communicating in short mission messages on the plane’s displays, has a personality all of its own and is arguably just as important a character as the human protagonist. The unlikely bond that the two share does go some way in alleviating some of Rei’s unlikability.
The OVA’s got 5 episodes: the first and last are around 45 minutes long, with the middle three being around 30 minutes each. A lot of the best action sequences and important plot sequences are front-and-back loaded into the first and last episodes, which leaves the middle three feeling slightly barren in comparison. It would have been nice for those middle three episodes to have a bit more beef, but that’s not to say that they’re bad - the plot developments that take place within them are still important and there’s still a solid amount of action in them. Ultimately the complete package is still great, even with the episodes not being as balanced as they could be. I’d recommend that anyone come take a watch just for the interesting setting and plot, and if you’re a lover of fighter jets in any way and like anime, then I’d say this is practically mandatory viewing. I’d put this right up there in the same ballpark as some of my other favourite OVA series like Detonator Orgun, Zeorymer or maybe even the lofty heights of Gunbuster and Macross Plus (if you were to put those two in a blender together, something like Yukikaze would probably come out, come to think of it.) This was definitely one of the best uses of an otherwise boring Sunday that I could have hoped for.
janainaart
jacobvanloon
germansingergirl
2087
origamiaround
theartofmadeline
